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2012
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Lab Members
Jaap de Roode
Professor of Biology
Jaap received his MSc in Population Biology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and his PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is interested in the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, and currently studies infectious diseases of monarch butterflies, honey bees and humans.
Scott Villa
FIRST Postdoctoral Fellow
Scott obtained his PhD from the University of Utah and is currently a postdoc in Emory’s FIRST program, working with Nicole Gerardo and Jaap de Roode. Scott’s research focuses on reproductive isolation and speciation. In Jaap’s lab, he studies mating behavior of monarch butterflies.
Ania Majewska
FIRST Postdoctoral Fellow
Ania obtained her PhD from the University of Georgia and is currently a postdoc in Emory’s FIRST program. Ania’s research focuses on host-parasite interactions, and she has studied how urbanization affects parasitism in monarch butterflies, and how parasites affect population growth of monarchs. In Jaap’s lab, she studies long-term trends of parasite infection and virulence evolution.
Erik Edwards
Greenhouse manager
Erik obtained a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Georgia and has worked as grower at several commercial greenhouses. Since November 2017, he has been in charge of the Biology Department’s greenhouse, facilitating monarch butterfly work in the de Roode and Gerardo labs.
Joselyne Chavez
Lab manager
Joselyne received her BA in Biology: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the Research Specialist for the de Roode and Gerardo labs. Her interests include the effects of climate change and other environmental factors on monarch-milkweed system and the application of chemical ecology techniques to better understand the mechanisms involved in the symbiosis and how those interactions have evolved over time.
Mitchell Kendzel
PBEE Graduate Student
Mitchell obtained his MSc in Biology from the University of Cincinnati and is currently a PhD student in Emory’s PBEE program. His work has focused on movement ecology and sensory biology. His current research interests are using the monarch butterfly as a model to study how parasitism interferes with animal migration and the influence this has on the development of sedentary populations.
Mackenzie Hoogshagen
PBEE Graduate Student
Mackenzie obtained her BSc in Biology from the University of Central Arkansas and is currently a PhD student in Emory’s PBEE program. Her work focuses on chemical ecology and budget energy modeling. She is interested in understanding how climate change may alter host-parasite interactions, and uses monarch butterflies, their milkweed plants and their protozoan parasites as a model system.
Ali Ebada
Undergraduate Student
Ali is pursuing a B.S. in Biology. He is interested in studying monarch population divergence and hybridization.
Emmanuel Arega
Undergraduate Student
Emmanuel is a biology major and interested in the biology of host-parasite interactions. He is studying the genetic basis of host resistance to parasitism in monarch butterflies.
Jimmy Zhang
Undergraduate Student
Jimmy is a biology major and interested in microbiology. He is studying the microbiome of different milkweed species, and their role in driving the gut microbiome of monarch butterflies.
Emma Cornejo
Undergraduate Student
Emma is a pre-dental biology major and interested in monarch biology and host-parasite interactions. She is studying the role of milkweed chemicals in providing resistance to parasite infection in monarch butterflies.
Rayshaun Pettit
SURE Summer Undergraduate Student
Rayshaun is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland and interested in pursuing a career in disease ecology. He is investigating the role of milkweed chemicals in driving monarch resistance to parasitism.
Kunsang Tsering
Undergraduate Student
Kunsang is a Human Health major and interested in the role of environmental change on host-parasite interactions. He is investigating how climate change will alter milkweed chemicals and thereby monarch resistance to parasitism.
Collaborators
Lab Alumni
Postdocs
PhD Students
Eleanore Sternberg
Thesis title: “Studies of local adaptation and ecological determinants of infection in a monarch butterfly parasite interaction”
Amanda Pierce
Thesis title: “Determining the effects of animal migration and range expansion on population genetics”
Travis Dynes
Thesis title: “Genetics and human management in Varroa destructor parasitism”
Erica Harris
Thesis title: “The role of medicinal food plants in mediating the gut microbiome and disease resistance in monarch butterflies”
Zachary Lynch
Thesis title: “Effects of parasites on host adaptation: immune system trade-offs, alternative behavioral defenses, and outcrossing rates”
Mary Bushman
Thesis title: “Within-host competition and evolution of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum”
Wen-Hao Tan
Thesis title: “Ecological immunology in a tri-trophic context: plant-mediated defense and immune gene evolution in monarch butterflies”
Signe White
Thesis title: “The evolution of virulence in heterogeneous host populations”
MS Students
Dylan Grippi
Thesis title: “Within-host ecology: parasitism over a changing landscape”
Gayatri Sekar
Thesis title: “Assessing competition between drug resistant and drug sensitive parasites in natural populations of Plasmodium falciparum”
Andrew Mongue
Thesis title: “Dynamics of multiple matings in monarch butterflies”
Ivan Shoemaker
Thesis title: “Risk-based plasticity of self-medication behavior in Drosophila melanogaster”